The present invention relates to a structure of a waterproof portion of a waterproof connector, which is adapted to waterproof an inside of a connector housing by providing a waterproof portion such as an interconnector waterproof portion and a wire waterproof portion.
As a conventional waterproof connector, for example, mentioned is the one disclosed in the gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. S 61(1986)-179077 and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is provided with a packing 6 functioning as an interconnector waterproof portion and a: rubber stopper 6a functioning as a wire waterproof portion. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a waterproof connector 1 and an opposite connector 2 opposite thereto, which constitute a pair and are mutually assembled.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the waterproof connector 1 is constructed in such a manner that a specified space S is provided in an inside of an outer housing 3, an inner housing 5 accommodating a connection terminal 4a of one wire 4 is protrusively provided therein, and the rubber-made packing 6 is inserted between the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 5. Moreover, the rubber stopper 6a is provided behind the connection terminal 4a. By the rubber stopper 6a, a terminal chamber 5a of the inner housing 5 is (liquid-tightly) sealed.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1, the opposite connector 2 is constructed in such a manner that a housing 7 plugged into the specified space S is provided, and a connection terminal 8a of the other wire 8 is accommodated in a rear end of the housing 7. Note that, the connection terminals 8a and 4a are adapted to be latched on the housing 7 and the inner housing 5 by spacers 9 and 9a. 
Then, the housing 7 of the opposite connector 2 is plugged into the specified space S of the waterproof connector 1; therefore, the one connection terminal 4a and the other connection terminal 8a come into contact with each other, and the packing 6 is pressed toward a direction of a bottom wall 3a of the outer housing 3 by a step portion (not shown) formed on an inside of a tip of the housing 7. Accordingly, the packing 6 is compressed between the bottom wall 3a and the step portion to be expanded to a thickness direction of the outer housing 3, thus being adapted to seal a space between an outer peripheral surface of the inner housing 5 and an inner peripheral surface of the housing 7.
However, in the conventional waterproof connector 1 described above, the packing 6 and the rubber stopper 6a are provided as parts independent of each other. Therefore, the number of parts of the whole waterproof connector is increased, and extra steps of assembling the packing 6 and the rubber stopper 6a are required. Accordingly, productivity of the product is lowered, leading to an inevitable increase in cost of the waterproof connector 1.
The present invention was made in order to solve the foregoing conventional subjects. The present invention has an object to provide a structure of a waterproof portion of an inexpensive waterproof connector capable of achieving reduction in number of parts and in number of assembling steps by monolithically molding an interconnector waterproof portion and a wire waterproof portion.
The invention of claim 1 is a structure of a water proof portion of a waterproof connector comprising: an inner housing provided with a terminal chamber; an outer housing provided with an enter port receiving an opposite connector at a tip thereof, the outer housing having the inner housing engaged therewith; an interconnector waterproof portion sealing a space thereof with the opposite connector, the interconnector waterproof portion being provided in the outer housing; and a wire waterproof portion covering a connection portion of a wire protruding outward from the terminal chamber, wherein a communication path communicating between the interconnector waterproof portion and the wire waterproof portion is provided, and the interconnector waterproof portion and the wire waterproof portion are continuously formed by monolithic molding using thermoplastic resin through the communication path.
In accordance with the structure of the waterproof portion of the waterproof connector, since the interconnector waterproof portion and the wire waterproof portion are continuously formed by the monolithic molding using the thermoplastic resin, the interconnector waterproof portion and the wire waterproof portion are formed as one part, thus the number of parts of the whole waterproof connector is reduced. Moreover, since the interconnector waterproof portion and the wire waterproof portion are formed in a lump by the monolithic molding, the number of assembling steps is reduced, and cost reduction is achieved for this amount.
The invention of claim 2 is the structure of the waterproof portion of the waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the wire waterproof portion is formed in such a manner that the whole from a connection portion of the wire to a rear end of the outer housing is covered with the thermoplastic resin.
In accordance with the structure of the waterproof portion of the waterproof connector, since the whole from the connection portion of the wire to the rear end of the outer housing can be covered with the wire waterproof portion, the wire waterproof portion covers wholly not only the connection portion of the wire but also the vicinity of the terminal chamber of the inner housing. Thus, a waterproof function of the portion covered by the wire waterproof portion can be increased, and the bond strength between the inner housing and the outer housing can be increased.